Harvey Milk Plaza is located in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro Neighborhood, and hosts one of the city’s busiest transit hubs. The plaza has been the site of countless gatherings and protests, including a candlelight vigil the night of Harvey’s untimely death and the White Night riots, which were sparked by the leniency of the sentence handed down to his assassin. In an effort to properly memorialize Harvey Milk in San Francisco, the SWA design team is focused not only on honoring Harvey himself, but also on representing the movement he inspired and was part of, which continues today.
The design includes features dedicated to visibility and representation of the wide spectrum of people encompassed by the LGBTQ+ community. Public art and interactive elements celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and history while also promoting a call to action in support of social justice movements, making the Memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza a place where hope and action live on forever. With the opportunity to refresh Harvey Milk Plaza via this public-private partnership, we hope to express the triumphs and tragedies of the past while encouraging present and future generations to emulate a true pioneer in the realm of social justice.
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NOAH Ethnographic Village
Armenia has set an initiative to increase global tourism and develop a site within its capital city with majestic views of Mount Ararat, where Noah’s Ark is purported to have landed. SWA developed a strategic plan based on several principles derived from the existing context of the site: first, to capitalize its proximity to important landmarks that allow for ...
Hennepin Avenue
Hennepin Avenue is the oldest street in Downtown Minneapolis, and has gone through multiple transformations over time. The street is undergoing a major reconstruction, and SWA is leading the effort to enhance the character of Hennepin for years to come. The conceptual approach was developed through a robust public engagement process, and touches on the three m...
Fort Wayne Riverfront
As a city that was built and thrived because of its location as a crossroads between wilderness and city, farm and market, the realities of infrastructure both natural and man-made are at the heart of Fort Wayne’s history. We consider waterways as an integral part of open spaces of the City, forming a series of infrastructural systems that affect the dynamics ...
San Jacinto Plaza
SWA’s redesign of San Jacinto Plaza, a historic gathering place in El Paso’s downtown business district provides a state-of-the-art urban open space, while protecting and celebrating the history and culture of the site. The project was the result of an intensive community process involving input from a wide range of constituents. Active programming, environmen...